for brainliest answer,,, write a short note on the earliest neolithic site found in india.
Answers
Except for ground stone axes all the Neolithic sites can be classified into the geographical regions as given in the following chart.
Excavations in the late 20th century at Mehrgarh, located on the Karachi plains on the frontier between Baluchistan and Sindh, about 150 km from Quetta (now in Pakistan), provide evidence of some five or six thousand years of occupation comprising two major periods: (i) Period I (8000-6000 BC) characterized by a ceramic (lacking pottery) culture, and (ii) Period II (5000-3000 BC) characterized by the emergence of pottery and improvements in agriculture.
Two sub phases of Period I are apparent from the mound artifacts-Phase I and Phase II. Phase I yielded bones of wild animals, while Phase II yielded bones of domesticated cattle, sheep and goat.
The main tools of Phase I were stone blades, including lunates and triangles, some probably mounted in wooden hafts with bitumen mastic.
The preponderance of bones of wild animals suggests continued dependence on hunting. Houses of mud brick began to be constructed in this phase. In Phase II, cattle (apparently the Indian humped variety) predominated over game animals. A new type of building, the small regular compartments, first-appeared during this phase.
Period I provides a clear picture of an early agricultural settlement. The use of sea shells and various semi-precious stones, including turquoise and lapis lazuli, indicates the existence of trade networks extending from the coast and perhaps also from Central Asia.
Striking changes took place during Period II, perhaps due to some major tectonic event around 5500 BC. In this period, nearly all features of the Period I existed, though in altered form.
The use of pottery increased. The granary structures (first appeared in Period I) proliferated on a larger scale.
The era of the monumental architecture seems to have begun in this period (Period I was the era of domestic architecture). Period II also provides evidence of use of copper and ivory for the first time.
Mehrgarh is the first known agricultural settlement of South Asia.
The Neolithic Culture of Kashmir valley (Burzahom and Gufkral) is characterized by pit- dwellings with well-made floors smeared with red- ochre as well as dwellings in the open.
Except for ground stone axes all the Neolithic sites can be classified into the geographical regions as given in the following chart.
Excavations in the late 20th century at Mehrgarh, located on the Karachi plains on the frontier between Baluchistan and Sindh, about 150 km from Quetta (now in Pakistan), provide evidence of some five or six thousand years of occupation comprising two major periods: (i) Period I (8000-6000 BC) characterized by a ceramic (lacking pottery) culture, and (ii) Period II (5000-3000 BC) characterized by the emergence of pottery and improvements in agriculture.
Two sub phases of Period I are apparent from the mound artifacts-Phase I and Phase II. Phase I yielded bones of wild animals, while Phase II yielded bones of domesticated cattle, sheep and goat.
The main tools of Phase I were stone blades, including lunates and triangles, some probably mounted in wooden hafts with bitumen mastic.
The preponderance of bones of wild animals suggests continued dependence on hunting. Houses of mud brick began to be constructed in this phase. In Phase II, cattle (apparently the Indian humped variety) predominated over game animals. A new type of building, the small regular compartments, first-appeared during this phase.
Period I provides a clear picture of an early agricultural settlement. The use of sea shells and various semi-precious stones, including turquoise and lapis lazuli, indicates the existence of trade networks extending from the coast and perhaps also from Central Asia.
Striking changes took place during Period II, perhaps due to some major tectonic event around 5500 BC. In this period, nearly all features of the Period I existed, though in altered form.
The use of pottery increased. The granary structures (first appeared in Period I) proliferated on a larger scale.
The era of the monumental architecture seems to have begun in this period (Period I was the era of domestic architecture). Period II also provides evidence of use of copper and ivory for the first time.
Mehrgarh is the first known agricultural settlement of South Asia.
The Neolithic Culture of Kashmir valley (Burzahom and Gufkral) is characterized by pit- dwellings with well-made floors smeared with red- ochre as well as dwellings in the open.
Excavated sites of the Belan Valley, in the Vindhyan Plateau, indicating transition from the food-gathering to the food-producing stage are Chopani-Mando, Koldihawa and Mahagara. These sites have been assigned to the "Vindhya Neolithic". Koldihawa dates as early as 7000 BC.
The Neolithic Culture of the valley shows a developed sedentary life with defined family units living in circular huts made of timber posts and thatch; standardization of pottery forms; portable size of food processing units like querns and mullers; specialized tools like chisels, Celts and adzes; cultivation of rice, and domestication of cattle, sheep, goat and horse.
Some have even suggested that Neolithic farmers here emerged as the earliest rice-farming community in India in the sixth millennium BC.
It has also been opined that pottery made its appearance in the late Mesolithic/Proto- Neolithic phase at Chopani-Mando in the ninth- eighth millennium BC, providing in fact the earliest evidence of the use of pottery in the world.
There exists considerable uncertainty about the chronology of the Vindhyan Neolithic centers; very few radiocarbon dates penetrate further than 2000 BC.
The Neolithic cultures of the hills of Assam including north Cachar, the Garo and the Naga hills, which fall in the monsoon zone, are characterized by shouldered Celts, small ground axes of rounded form and cord-impressed pottery.
These objects bear similarity to types in China and South-east Asia. The Assam Neolithic Culture phase is probably dated around 2000 BC.
Excavated sites of South India are Sangankallu, Nagarjunakonda, Maski, Brahmagiri, Tekkalakota, Piklihal, Kupgal, Hallur, Palavoy and others. Archaeologists have classified the Neolithic Culture in South India into three phases.